This invention is related in general to networks and more specifically to systems and methods for resolving conflicts associated with network device addresses.
Systems and methods for avoiding and/or resolving address conflicts are employed in various applications including Local Area Network (LANs) and Internet Applications. Devices connected to these networks are often associated with plural addresses, such as Media Access Control (MAC) and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Such networks demand address-assignment and conflict-resolution systems that effectively balance the need for network-address assignment versatility with network priorities.
Systems for effectively assigning addresses and resolving address conflicts are particularly important in IP-addressing applications, where dynamic IP-address assignment is increasingly used. In such applications, IP addresses are often automatically assigned to network devices upon connecting to a network. Unfortunately, such dynamic address assignment may result in devices being assigned conflicting IP addresses. Conventionally, network connections associated with conflicting IP addresses are terminated, which degrades network utility and fault tolerance. Alternatively, IP address configurations are limited to those that cannot result in conflicts. Unfortunately, limiting IP address configurations is impractical for many applications, especially applications involving devices with multiple nodes running distributed IP protocol stacks that have high IP-address availability requirements.